Top 5: Any game between the top three would be just phenominal to watch and no sure bet to win. Great work by the Kids, Parents and Coaches in being the top teams in the Country.

MarlboroMatchfitHolmdel

4-5 slots are: Very good teams that play with a lot of heart.MarltonSJEB-on the bubble Stallions

I don't know the status of STA? If they are still in the age group I would put them at a solid 4 ranking. SSC's status is questionable as well, with the loss of key players to competing clubs, thier forfeiture of the remainder of last season and tournament participation, I'd put them in the 7-10 ranking however, they are unquestionably not in the top 5 at this time.

Not sure how you could know any of this for sure. Teams change, players leave, some have graduated and are in college at this point. Teams at this point can be very different from what you state and no one really knows how it will all shake out.

Graduated and are in college in this age group? Sorry, but 99/98 teams either dropped down to 99 or they remained intact and play 98 (U19). So not sure how they could have graduated and are in college when they haven't graduated HS yet and the younger still have a year to go?

It's an opinion-based hyposthesis partly derived from past performance and the top teams are and have thier rosters pretty much intact. So unless 4-5 teams merged thier best players then it's a possibility they might shake out somewhere but not as a top competetor in the state.

You assume my son plays on a team in the top 5, when in fact top 20-25 would be the truth. I however do not have an issue with those top 5 teams and know they are better. I do not think being better makes you an elitist. You sound like a jealous person to me.

Tournaments at this stage are ok if you have the money to do so. No need to travel far, the only college coaches that will be watching you are the coaches you have already signed up to play for. The bigger question to me is what to do this summer? I know you should be conditioning, but are new teams formed to keep you sharp?

MSC was very lucky to get their tournament in after many previous cancellations. A lot of tournaments and games will be cancelled or postponed. Every spring there is a huge demand for turf fields with most grass being water logged.

To the poster above you only agreed with the post above yours. Question for you. Why would there be no need for stating it is a tournament for low to mid level teams? It is true and what is wrong with that type of a tournament?

"Yeah, because most freshman go in and start right away. What a tool!!!"

Or better yet, never start at all. I went to a D1 match last fall in which 21 of the 22 starters were international players. And my understanding is that the 1 American starter (a goal keeper) was actually a back up filling in for an injured international.

I was at a Rider game when they played Nova. They do have a bunch of foreigners on their team. I think Rider had about 7-8 starters. Villanova had 1 or 2. To act like those 4 teams you mentioned are representative of what college soccer is like is a bit misleading.

I took a look at some of the schools listed, no so surprisingly they are mostly foreign players. I have a relative who is a staff member at Mercyhurst University and he tells me that their team is at least 85% foreign players.

I agree, there are going to be lots of upsets this year. This age group is going to be a real wild card. Kids are all playing for different reasons. Some to keep in shape, some hoping to possibly catch on with a college team, some for the fun of it.

Yes, the time for winning is kinda over. Years past you wanted to win so you can get to the top flights of best tournaments so you can be seen by college coaches. Pretty sure these 18-19 year old kids aren't looking for trophies and medals.

Do you seriously think that these players do not want to win when they step on the field? How do you think many of them go to where they are and will be (playing in college). No one said there was an end game of getting into better tournaments, but the will and desire to win a game is there.

They didnt play their last 2 games, now why would they join a league and not play their games this year? That makes no sense at all, they all have money to throw around and just want to be a pain to the league? There is a reason they couldnt play their game, sorry it didnt work out for you but they are not trying to please you.

I have no idea why, but I do know they have bailed out of their first league game. That's what you asked for. Since you seem to be part of SSC maybe you can tell me why they bagged the game this weekend.

FINES1. A $250 fine will be accessed upon 1st forfeit.2. The club president MUST write a formal letter to EDP regarding the forfeit.3. The club will pay the fine within 3 business days.4. If the fine is not paid within the required timeframe, then that team’s succeedingweek’s match will NOT be played and the team will be issued a 3-0 loss. 5. Should a second forfeit occur within a Club in the same seasonal year, the matterwill be sent to the EDP league office to determine sanctions.6. If no score is reported 3 days following a completed game, the home team will beissued a $50 fine.

Most of it stems from the favourtism of certain players with the revolving door with Redbulls, Daddy's influence with management and coach whose behaviour drives colleges away. I know who you are talking about and it's the parents, one left and one remains rostered. They are Queen's court when it comes to drama.

Their are favorites everywhere. If a coach believes a player can help him win, for the most part they will take that player. The coaches all talk a big game but push come to shove the win/loss record is what attracts new business to them. No coach is going to drive college coaches away, if that was the case very few players in NJ would be playing in college based on how the coaches behave.

Matchfit why don't you say you pulled out of the first schedule game last season vs SSC, all because it was to windy....matchfit you are a bunch of crybabies.. you only want to play when it's favorable to you..you complained last year when you lost to Marlboro saying the grass was to high..big crybabies

I don't and why do you think anyone cares? Some of your players get to play D1. Good for them, it's what they worked hard for and paid plenty. Those players are moving on. Their coach just stays in the same place. Please stop being so self obsessed!

I think it is great that MF has so many D1 commits. For those of you that play them you know they are a very good team with some very skilled players. You might have also noticed that they may or may not be better then your son and that the main reason they get the D1 exposure is because their coach WORKED to put them in the right places at the right times and made the proper calls. If you think your son is as good as some at MF that are playing D1, and your son is not, well you might have a point. Maybe your coach should have done something, done anything. These college coaches do listen.

Looked up MatchFit on gotsoccer, as expected they are doing very well and rarely lose. Just lost to NJCSA Marlboro but that was 1 vs 2 so I am sure that can go either way. Personally I hope all of the players that are qualified to play in college get a chance to do so. I played D3 and we played 2 D1 teams every year. We won some, lost some over the years but they were always close and the difference was not what you might think.

You must be tool talking like that about UPenn. Who cares about how good the team is. At this point, it is all about the college/education. Where is your kid going? LOL. BTW, I am not a Match Fit parent.

Some of you are really this dumb? They play soccer because they love the game. It helped some get into schools that maybe they would not have gotten into otherwise. Now they start all over again and fight for playtime, some will get it others will not. While all of this is going on they will be working towards the end goal...........getting a job.

NJCSA Marlboro vs Excel RasenNot sure who Excel Rasen is, where they play out of or anything. I think they are a newly formed team which could be dangerous if they put a team together of all stars. Marlboro is the #1 ranked team in the state and country so I have to believe they are stronger and will choose Marlboro to win this game.

SJEB 99 Academy vs Wall EliteSJEB is a strong 99 team while Wall is a mid level 98 squad that has added some players. Wall will have the size advantage, SJEB will have the skill level needed to knock off Wall in PK's

Holmdel NJX vs Mainland UTDMainland UTD has had an easy ride so far and this will be a punishing defeat. Holmdel is too talented to allow this to be a close game.

TSF academy 98/99 vs East Brunswick UTDTSF has a nice track record and East Brunswick shouldnt stay close in this one, but somehow I see a close game. TSF 3-1

TSF Academy 99 vs Cedar Stars 99Cedar Stars is a dark horse in this tournament to win it all and TSF just doesnt have what is needed to win this game. CS will win 4-1

Stronghold Falcons vs Go Soccer WembleyBlowout city. SSC will not take this seriously and if past performance means anything they will have players missing for no legit reason. Yet, they will win handily vs the Go Soccer team that doesnt even know how they are still playing.

SJEB 98 Academy vs Toms River NewcastleAt first sight SJEB should have no issues here but Toms River has a history of hanging tough and I wouldnt be surprised if this was closer then people might think. SJEB will pull it out.

STA 1998 NPL vs Hudson UTD With the top STA team in this age group knocked out this is STA's last hope. Hudson will win this game and move on to play SJEB.

That is a solid post and pretty accurate in the sweet 16. Prior to that post, 1/2 of the Freshman class won't even see the pitch thier first year and the other half may tip 100 minutes played. Then figure that only 2-5% of the freshman or so will still be playing as a senior.

Cedar stars coach used to coach SDFC 98 boys...he's a good coach with good players but to say cedar stars now is a stallion in the race might still be a reach. They still need to get through strong 98 teams including SSC ((if they show up)) and most likely SJEB or STA....those matchups will be interesting to say the least.

Competing vs 98 and 99s will be different experiences depending on different teams strengths and weaknesses. I'd say 99s can absolutely compete and will be hungry to prove a point against the older guys and the older guys may even take them lightly...every game will be different but I'd still give the edge to the 98s To big brother the 99s

Prediction:SJEB 98 Academy vs Toms River NewcastleAt first sight SJEB should have no issues here but Toms River has a history of hanging tough and I wouldnt be surprised if this was closer then people might think. SJEB will pull it out.

Just kidding mr predictor. Wanted to see if anyone would bite. You were still wrong but not to that final score. I have been saying for a few weeks now that Wall is underappreciated and are a much better team then anyone gives credit too. Has a few really top level players and many good to very good players on it. Excellent coaching and has added some key players now. Again I say do not sleep on Wall. SJEB was a decent team but really the better team won and I think even SJEB would admit that to be true. ONWARD WALL!

Of course anything can happen but if you are looking at past performance Marlboro plays thoroughbreds while Wall has beaten one good 98 team, Marlton. Is that enough to go on to say that they will beat Marlboro? To your point we do not even know if they will play Marlboro yet. Marlboro is ranked the #1 team in the country, they got there by winning games. Wall from what I can tell is playing well against average teams. I would be very surprised to see a Wall victory if this even materializes.

Wall is not a team worthy of a new kids on the block title. This team has been around since U8, ok some different players I am sure but not a new team in any sense. They have no chance of winning a state cup, none, zero. They can win a game on any day but complete the whole tournament no way.

Finally a team is being talked about that is not ranked in the top 5 and someone is questioning it. There are a lot of good players on the teams ranked 20-30, is it Wall's fault that those are the teams they are scheduled to play? I would welcome more of these teams to come on here and give their opinions and share thoughts.

My son was on a very good team that was ranked in the 30s and they came really close to beating the #1 ranked team in the state cup a few yrs. ago The score was 1-0 and the #1 team scored on a goalie era. I know that any team could be very strong no matter the ranking because some teams haven't collected the pts. Maybe they're new, maybe they don't go to lots of tournaments, maybe they're not playing in the top flights of EDP where you earn the most pts. An established team is keeping their pts. for a year and the roster most likely has changed so I don't see how their ranking is accurate.

Ok so we are back to the points again. Let me start with this, I don't believe anyone has said that no team can ever lose so get rid of that argument. Now to your points.

collected points. You do not collect points, you earn points. You earn points by beating teams that are ranked higher then you are. Beating up on weak opponents does nothing for you when it comes to points. So #30 would very quickly rise if they did in fact win games against a better team.

tournaments. In order to gain points in a tournament you need to win or at the very least come in 2nd or 3rd. Again that would mean that you won your games and you earned those points. If you play in crappy tournaments you play crappy teams and earn crappy points.

Top flights. If a team consistently beats the better teams or teams better then they are, they move up flights. If your team has not moved up flights that is because you did not earn it, meaning you didnt win those games.

Keep the points for a year. That is true across the board, but it is more painful to those teams that won a big tournament and then the next year they dont win it. Those teams can lose 3000 to 5000 points. That is a big hit and it allows those lower ranked teams a chance to make their move. If you didnt win your games and tournaments you didnt make your move. You need to win.

Turnover. There is as much turnover and change on the bottom level teams as there is on the upper level teams. Why do players tryout for the top teams? Visability. Which is something a 30th ranked team can not provide.

Again, no one is saying #30 cant beat #1 but if the teams played 100 times how many times would # 30 win? One? Two? I dont know but I do know it would not be alot.

Moral to the rankings, you must win to advance. If you don't win you don't deserve to advance.

I am in a situation where I have two sons that play soccer. One is on a top 5 team, one is on a mid level team at best. I have the chance to watch both play and trust me when I tell you, there is a huge difference. No the parents on the mid level team don't see it and they truly do believe that this team can compete with the top teams. I see them all play, they cant. The boys know it, the parents do not. The coaches know it, the parents do not. I have learned to take each team for what they are, a game for me to watch. That is it. The players get out of it what they want which is enjoyment and fun. Lets just leave it at that.

12.29You're wrong about having to come in at least 3rd in tournaments to earn pts. A team can get into quarter finals, which is 8th place and earn pts. Same with EDP flights. EDP gives out pts. for showing up. Once a team has those points from the prior season, they're placed in a high flight again where they will again collect pts. for coming in 5th place. I think got soccer pts are a joke.

You all are making good points. The gotsoccer system is a guide, nothing more. It also is the most accurate guide we have. If you have a top 5 team play a top 20-25 team the top 5 team will win almost all of the time. I think most would agree to that. If that is agreed upon then the gotsoccer rankings do work.

What's up with mainland untd? Anyone see the game with holmdel? This age is so weird. Not saying mainland is not good--I know nothing about them--but it just seems like teams with very good profiles like holmdel I guess, may just not show up on any given occasion. Like I said, I don't know if that's what happened but a 5-0 defeat seems pretty bad. Congrats to mainland though.

Brainwashed? Hardly. Just seems like a stretch that a mid-level 99 team would beat a top 98/99 team by a 5 goal shutout. Unless there were extenuating circumstances of some kind. I guess it's possible that it could just happen, but would qualify as a real shocker I think.

A good team is a good team. Everyone is so conditioned to got soccer rankings. Try thinking outside the box. The # of tournaments a team enters is directly related to rankings. The amount of business a club gives EDP is related to rankings. All in? Your teams are placed in higher flights.

unfortunately in U.S. youth soccer a "good team" isn't necessarily a good team. what i mean is that I agree with you about how ranking reflect circulation of $ between clubs, leagues, and tournaments. so, yeah, in a sense, the rankings aren't real--but actually they do become real because the entire structure of us youth soccer is built on this paradigm unless you start talking about academies. so at the club level, those clubs who gain access (can pay) to the top tournaments do actually gain the opportunity to play against the most highly trained players and teams that are largely composed of players who want to play in college at a high level. So these teams and players do gain a competitive edge it would seem. It's pay to play. Not pretty, but that's how it is. So the nice ideal that rankings are just about money is both true and false--that's because us youth soccer is all about valuing the money of wealthy suburban families, with some super-talented lower income kids thrown in at the highest levels of club if they are fortunate enough to get financial assistance ...Seems different at academy level. Although many academy kids do come from wealthy suburban backgrounds--due often to the fact that they have benefited from expensive personal training at younger ages to prepare them for academy.

Some might, most won't. Part of the point is that these elite clubs really don't have to make that effort so much because high level US soccer is defined at the earliest ages by those who can pay and those who can afford to give their kids the extra training and acces to all the supposedly elite gatherings of select odp style markers of success--so that the "best" US players at the club level tend to be the best off financially. This isn't just happening in soccer, by the way--basketball too. Increasingly those college scholarships are going to middle classKids. There is a whole level of youth athletic preparation that is happening outside of team structures and that is most readily open to those who can pay for it. This isn't entirely and absolutely the case, but it's a real factor.